Shop Name: Ashland Garage
Owner(s): Nathan and Dana Roady
Location (city, state): Ashland, Virginia
Staff Size: 6
Shop Size (in square feet): 4,000
Number of Bays: 5
Average Monthly Car Count: 275
Annual Revenue ($): $950,000
When one-third of your waking hours are spent working on vehicles, people and environment are everything. It’s why Nathan and Dana Roady invested in creating workspaces within Ashland Garage that are aesthetically pleasing and homey by nature.
Ashland Garage, a five-bay, 4,000-square-foot shop north of Richmond, Virginia, embodies a rustic feel that sets an inviting mood for customers and employees alike. It’s this attention to detail that makes Ashland Garage one of Ratchet+Wrench’s 2023 Best Workplaces.
In describing the aesthetic, owner Nathan says, “it's kind of like a small-town coffee shop vibe. It's got kind of an industrial feel to it.”
Meet the Owners
The Roadys, who purchased the shop three years ago, came into auto repair from the HVAC industry. While looking for a repair shop to help maintain their heating and air conditioning company fleet, they stumbled upon Ashland Garage and decided to pursue ownership.
"We were having issues around town trying to find good service at a good price on our schedule, so we found a local shop that had been around, I think the shop was built back in the ‘50s or ‘60s. And then it was renovated a couple of times, but it was pretty rundown when we ran across the building. It was in an operation, but kind of in disrepair,” recalls Nathan.
He and Dana took on the shop and its employees with the goal of renovating it and creating a community-oriented shop that was tight-knit, valued its staff and could run without ownership present every day. Nathan says the learning curve between industries was relatively nonexistent since the same principles transfer.
“Fixing heating and air conditioning equipment isn't much different as a process than fixing a vehicle. The only difference is that people bring us their vehicles versus us sending the mechanic to someone's home. So I think we had a really good idea on how to attack the business and how to provide the customer service that the community wants needs and would like to have,” says Nathan, who admitted that he was a "little bit of a gearhead" himself who wrenches in his spare time.
Why They’re a Best Workplace
Ashland Garage places a high emphasis on the care and nurturing of its team members. The Roadys understand that you can’t pour from an empty cup and when the team is fulfilled at home and at work, performance improves. This can sometimes look like a member of the team bringing a child to work, having a pet in tow, or taking a day to tend to family matters.
“Dana and I have three daughters. We understand the trials and tribulations that comes with raising a family,” says Nathan. “And people enjoy having the kids up at the shop. I haven't had any complaints about the children. Kelly's got great kids; Jimmy's got really good kids; I bring my kids.”
Kelly Lacy, the office coordinator, points to this prioritization of family as meaningful for her performance.
"As a working mom, it’s an honor to be working for a family that understands that because a lot of other companies don't. If my son is not feeling well, or if it’s a teacher workday, it’s nice to be able to have a lot of the flexibility that they offer at the shop,” says Lacy.
For Jeremy Price, the service manager, it’s trust. He’s the eyes and ears for Dana and Nathan, who allow him the bandwidth to take care of the day-to-day operations with Lacy. Nathan commends Price’s leadership saying he “does a good job leading the shop in the right direction.”
“It makes me feel good; makes me feel like I’m appreciated,” Price says.
Wray Engleman, a senior technician, points to the collaborative nature of the team. With five technicians spanning over a few generations, it could be easy to rub one another the wrong way.
We have good relationships; it's not a cutthroat thing. If somebody needs a hand, they get a hand,” Engleman says, pointing out that learning goes both ways between younger and more seasoned techs. “Everybody wants to learn. You take your time and teach them what you can when you can."
Nathan appropriately praises the ability of his team and understands his and Dana’s role as facilitators and Lacy, Price and Engleman’s roles as the executors as the reason for the shops’ continued success internally.
“We own a building, and we have some processes in place. But those folks, they are the business. Our customers come to see them. They are very influential in our community and influential in our business decisions. They are outstanding human beings, and we really love having them,” Nathan says.
Required Reading
The Roadys admit that running businesses make it difficult to turn pages on a regular basis, “If we had time we would,” Nathan says, joking that they should instead be writing books. Jeremy chimed in, offering Chris Collins’s “Millionaire Service Advisor,” a book centered around how service advisors can help grow shops by valuing the customer they serve.
